


The Bones of Your Heart

by Nympha_Alba



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-20
Updated: 2011-04-20
Packaged: 2017-10-18 10:33:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/188017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nympha_Alba/pseuds/Nympha_Alba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin wakes up in Arthur's bed, aware that what happened last night shouldn't have happened, <i>really</i> shouldn't have happened.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bones of Your Heart

_The dawn was breaking the bones of your heart like twigs.  
You had not expected this,  
the bedroom gone white, the astronomical light  
pummeling you in a stream of fists._  
Richard Siken

 

Some things are easier to do in the dark – the things you're insecure about, the ones you're embarrassed about. The ones you're not sure should happen at all.

Merlin finds he's scared to open his eyes. Light filters through his eyelashes; the cold, ruthless light of a winter morning that leaves him no place to hide. The sheets feel rough against his skin and they shouldn't; they're the fine linens of Arthur's bed. Perhaps it's the memory of Arthur's silky skin, of his neck under Merlin's lips, of the inside of his thigh under Merlin's fingertips, that makes them feel coarse.

If he doesn't move, if he doesn't open his eyes, if he breathes very slowly and very quietly, then maybe reality won't return and he can stay here in the warmth of their bodies under the bedclothes. Because when Arthur wakes up he will remember, remember his chambers filled with firelight and the sound of their breathing, and everything will shatter.

Merlin shouldn't be here. None of this should have happened, none of all these things that he's wanted for so long, and now he can't even cherish them. If he squeezes his eyes shut long enough, perhaps he'll disappear like the world around him.

And then Arthur moves. Arthur moves, slowly, sleepily, and in the stillness his limbs whisper over fabric. Over skin. His hand is large and warm as it slides along Merlin's arm, covers Merlin's hand and twines their fingers together.

Merlin's frantic thoughts grind to a halt. Of all the things he had expected this would have been the last. Arthur's hands, yes, but not touching him gently – shoving him out of bed, throwing his clothes after him. Arthur's voice as cold as the light.

When his lips meet Merlin's temple in a silent good morning, everything is new and wondrous. There's air to breathe and a day that is just beginning, filled with promises.

The light of dawn leaves Merlin no place to hide, but he opens his eyes and finds he doesn't need it.


End file.
